60 Days Tanzania Students Wildlife Research.

Tanzania

Wildlife Conservation and Political Ecology

Explore the balance between ecological concerns and socioeconomic objectives in the vast wilderness expanses of NORTHERN TANZANIA.

Projects/Research conducted

Wildlife Project/Research

Birds

Animals

Forest

Political Ecology

The project conducted at ARUSHA

Duration of the project 60 Days = 2 Months

Almost more than 30 days stayed in a beautiful tent with eating delicious food/meals.

Social wildness project conducted on

ARUSHA CENTER OF YOUR PROJECT

SERENGETI

NGORONGORO CRATER

TARANGIRE

LAKE MANYARA

WEST KILIMANJARO FOREST (NDARAKWAI RANCH)

MAZUMBAI TROPICAL FOREST (COLLEDGE OF FORESTRY,WILDLIFE&TOURISM)

KILIMANJARO COFFEE PLANTATION STUDY

OLDONYOSAMBU MAASAI BOMA

LAKE EYAS

NOTE.

We can process VISA of the students before arrive (One month before arrive) if it were not processed.

OVERVIEW OF THE PROGRAM

Study abroad has a broad, worldwide network of faculty and staff; deep connections at academic institutions, nongovernmental organizations, and community empowerment groups; and a longstanding commitment to experiential education and cultural understanding.

As an accredited institution of higher learning, Mupana organization works in innovative and strategic ways to provide partnership on internationalization programs and strategy. We design programs and initiatives that fit with a home institution’s curriculum, desired learning outcomes, and specific academic goals.

Project Hints.

Examine the dynamics shaping the contentious balance between people and wildlife in northern Tanzania.

Explore conservation through multiple lenses.

Start building a network for your academic and professional careers.

Study issues of deforestation, agriculture, and population growth.

Experience life in a remote village with a Maasai family.

Speak with Mto wa Mbu/Karatu villagers about their experiences living adjacent to protected wildlife areas.

Visit Serengeti National Park Tarangire National Park, Lake Manyara National Park, Lake Eyas National Park and the Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area and explore Tanzania’s rich, extensive, and biodiversity flora and fauna.

Spend more than 32 days camping in Tanzania’s beautiful and ecologically diverse wilderness areas.

The project began as follow

(WILDLIFE AND ENVIROMENTAL CONSERVATION)

The 1st Session of the project/study.

The 1st day you arrive at JRO International Airport

You will meet the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Mupana Organization Mr.Tonny Clarence Mwakolo and his staff to welcome you ,provides you some briefs then we start the Safari to West Kilimanjaro at Ndarakwai Ranch. Where we can study/research the Forest (types of trees and its characteristics),Wildlife conservation (unt poaching and types of birds and their characters) and learning culture of people surrounded (Maasai culture).

JRO International Airport – West Kilimanjaro (Ndarakwai Ranch)

Ndarakwai Ranch Hints to learn/research

This privately owned ranch, started in 1995 as an experiment in self-sustaining conservation, preserves a variety of habitats that are home to over 70 mammal species and 350 bird species (at last count). Ndarakwai is an important part of the Amboseli / Ngasurai eco-system and helps to preserve vital seasonal elephant routes. Many species (lesser kudu, Grants gazelle, warthogs, impala, wildebeest, giraffe, waterbuck, bushbuck, hyena, etc), are permanent residents on the ranch, while others (eland, zebra, buffalo, elephant, cheetah, etc) use Ndarakwai seasonally.

Ndarakwai Camp is a permanent tented lodge on Ndarakwai Ranch. With views of both Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Meru, the camp is nestled in a protected forest of towering fig, and yellow-barked acacias that line the seasonal Ngare Nairobi River.

Duration of the project/studies/research at Ndarakwai Ranch

6 Days/5night

Staying in Public Camps.

After Ndarakwai Ranch/West Kilimanjaro Forest we drive to Arusha point of our program where we can still continue with the following course

The 2nd second Session.

Arusha Center.

Duration of the project/studies/research at Arusha Center.

14 Days/13night – (Two weeks)

Home stays with local families and other appropriate housing

PROGRAM COMPONENTS:

Consultation on academic content / collaborative curriculum design

Dons and dos as a guide when you’re in Tanzania

In-country faculty and staff

Expert guest lecturers

Language instruction (basic communication or extended course)

Fieldwork ethics and research methodology

Undergraduate research projects

Home stays with local families and other appropriate housing

Classroom space

Field visits and educational excursions

Medical and evacuation insurance

Orientation and reentry preparation

Home institution credit or Mupana organization credit

On-call student affairs professionals 24 hours a day

Meals (with home stay families, as a group, and/or through stipends)

Local transportation

End of our session in Arusha Center project prepare to move from Arusha City to Lake Eyas for wildlife conservation and tourism project/research/studies.

The 3rd Session of the project/study.

Arusha – Lake Eyas (Hadzabe and Datoga place)

(WILDLIFE CONSERVATION AND CULTURAL TOURISM).

Visiting Lake Eyas stay in tented camps exploring the culture and nature of Hadzabe and Datoga tribes whose found there. Study/researching on Tourism and Culture; meet Hadzabe the skillful hunters whose life depends on Hunting Animals (Local hunters).Expertise will provide best explanation on Culture and Tourism activities of the area, animals found there by their names and their characters.

Lake Eyas Hints to learn/research

Lake Eyasi is a seasonal shallow endorheic salt lake on the floor of the Great Rift Valley at the base of the Serengeti Plateau, just south of the Serengeti National Park and immediately southwest of the Ngorongoro Crater in the Crater Highlands of Tanzania. The lake is elongated, orientated southwest to northeast, and lies in the Eyasi-Wembere branch of the Great Rift Valley

The Hadzabe bushmen live in this region, as do the Datoga and Mbulu tribes. A visit with the bushmen is worthwhile and they will graciously show you where and how they live and hunt. They subsist entirely off the bush and by bow hunting. Everything they use is made from local materials, including their bows which are strung with giraffe tendon and their arrows which are coated in lethal poison. Their language resembles that of Kalahari bushmen tribe (who were featured in the 1980 film ‘The Gods Must Be Crazy’) with clicking noises used.

The Datoga and Mbulu people are pastoralists, like the Masai people.

The scenery of Lake Eyasi differs dramatically to that of the surrounding areas. Compared to the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Highlands this area seems downright tropical. Palm trees border the lake and make homes for birds such as Fischer’s lovebird. Other trees in this area include the umbrella thorn acacia and sand paper bush. The weather is nearly always very hot and intense, as the lake is located in floor of the Rift Valley, the oldest rift in the world. The rift is thought to have opened over 65 million years ago, shortly after dinosaurs became extinct.

Duration of the project/studies/research at Lake Eyas.

5 Days/4night

Staying in Public Camps.

After Lake Eyas during afternoon (after super lunch) we drive to Arusha point of our program where we can still continue with the following session of you project/studies/research.

The 4th Session of the project/study.

Arusha – Moshi/Kilimanjaro region

(AGRICULTURE AND COMMUNITY)

Back to Arusha City Stay one day to the Hotel/Tented Camp Preparing to go Moshi/Kilimanjaro region leaning/researching on COFFEE PLANTATION. Here we meet the villagers who are the Agriculturalist based on coffee plantation will explain how they prepare their farms and seeds before planting. How/where do they get seeds, How do they plants, How do they treats before ripe, How many days/months/years do they take till to harvest, How do they harvest and How do they organize the market.etc

Moshi/Kilimanjaro Hints to learn/research

Visiting and explore one of the biggest Coffee plantation farm (Organization) in MWEKA VILLAGE at Moshi/Kilimanjaro Region also we meet the Agriculturalist to explain to them the basics and technical knowledge of coffee plantation. See how big Farm differ with the local one, how big farm irrigate their farm, how they protect their seeds from pests differ to local one, Here make some up of what you learn and what you know about coffee plantation. Asking additional questions on what you see and you haven’t seen them but you need to know.

Early in the morning before leave Moshi/Kilimanjaro Region take a relaxing time in Marangu Village (Chagas tribe area)being with villagers preparing local Coffee. The villagers will guide them on how to prepare coffee and take one cup of coffee test the local one with them. Our team/guide will take them to the biggest among beautifully waterfalls found in the village called MARANGU MTON WATER FALLS. Take time on relaxing, swimming and explore the nature of the area and its people.

Duration of the project/studies/research at Moshi/Kilimanjaro region.

5 Days/4night

Staying in Public Camps

During evening back to Arusha city prepared for the next session of our project staying in tented camps or lodge.

The 5th Session of the project/study.

Arusha City – Lake Manyara

(WILDLIFE CONSERVATION AND TOURISM)

Here our expertise/Guides in Animals and Birds will take the responsibility to make sure you know each animals found there and their characters, how do they leave, how do they protect themselves from carnivores animals like lions,cheter,leopard and other carnivore animals. How do they get pregnancy-time consuming to get birth and bearing their kids?

Lake Manyara Hints to learn/research

Take off from Arusha to Lake Manyara .Lake Manyara National Park is located 126 km (78 mi) south west of Arusha and can be reached by car in an hour and a half. The park can also be reached easily from Babati the capital of Manyara Region. The park is also very close to Tarangire National Park There is also an airport, Lake Manyara Airport (LKY), located at the top of the rift wall.

Lake Manyara National Park is known for the FLAMINGOS that inhabit the lake. During the wet season they inhabit the edges of the lake in flocks of thousands but they are not so present during the dry season.

More than 400 species of birds inhabit the park and many remain throughout the year. Because of this Lake Manyara National Park is a good spot for bird watching. Visitors to the park can expect to see upwards of 100 different species of bird on any day.

Leopards, East African lions, cheetahs, elephants, blue monkeys, dik-dik, gazelles, hippopotami, Masai giraffe, impala, zebras and many more wild animals inhabit this park and many can be seen throughout the year. There is a hippo pond at one end of the park where visitors can get out of their cars and observe from a safe distance. The leopards and lions are both known to lounge in the trees while not hunting for prey.

Types of birds found there more than 400 types should be presented, their characters, how do they leave, how do they increase their numbers, how do they interact, how do they hunt and how do they fly in the same level or. Every student should kept their eyes and ears to the expertise/guide because birds are very complicated to understand each other.

Duration of the project/studies/research at Lake Manyara.

3 Days/2night

Staying in Public Camps

End of the project in Lake Manyara then in the evening get back to Arusha preparing for the next session of the project/research/studies.

The 6th Session of the project/study.

(CULTURE LEANING AND TOURISM)

Arusha City – Oldonyosambu Maasai Village

Arusha city to Oldonyosambu Masai village 35 KM will take only 30 minutes to reach.

After arrive to the village the Maasai leader will welcome and provide them briefing about the community and get to be addressed with the village leaders also provide them a place where they can setup your tent near their houses. They will provide the youth Maasai (Morani-Age group of Maasai) to make security before the project start.

Masai Culture enables guests to interact with the local people who are the Masai exploring their rich cultural heritage. While reaching the village we will take a chance of preparing a part in a Maasai Dance .Here you will learn how Maasai prepare their part, how do they dress, how do they part/dance. How do they slaughter their cattle’s and what do they do to that blood of the cattle. Teach them how to make their Traditional Jewelry, arts and craft as a souvenir.

Here you will visit the local market (Oldonyosambu Market) then time to permit the students to go to the field to watch livestock in the lush posture, also having a moment of Short hikes up the nearby hills to get glimpse of Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Longido, Mount Meru and Mount Kitumbeine.

Duration of the project/studies/research at Oldonyosambu

4 Days/3night

Staying in Public Camps

End of the project in Oldonyosambu then in the evening get back to Arusha preparing for the next session of the project/research/studies.

The 7th Session of the project/study.

Arusha City – Mazumbai Tropical Forest (Tanga-Lushoto)

(ENVIROMENTAL CONSERVATION AND TOURISM)

Before departure to Mazumbai students will attend several classes here in Arusha at SUA College. Professor will give them hints and teach them theoretically while in Mazumbai will be taught in practical base. All lessons is about types of forest produced, types of trees and their characters, why they choose mazumbai or Tanga and not other region to plant their trees and other so many questions to professor.

After several classes you will depart in the afternoon from Arusha to Mazumbai tropical forest for more studies and see how the forest is. There you will meet also the expertise of Mazumbai Tropical Forest. He will teach you practical via their forest established by the college. Here you should know the time of both Forestation and Deforestation. When they plant their seeds, the time taken to plant and harvesting. Condition/weather and soil needed by that trees planted.

Mazumbai Tropical Forest Hints to learn/research

Mazumbai Forest Reserve is a 320 ha of montane evergreen rainforest stretching from 1300 to 1900 meters above sea level located in Lushoto District in the West Usambara Mountains between latitude 4o50’S and longitude 38o30’E. The forest reserve is one of the best examples of pristine rainforest of this type remaining in East Africa. The forest not only serves as a sanctuary for rare and endemic plant and animal species in Usambara Mountains, but also provides water catchment proprieties essential to the surrounding human population. The forest is owned and managed by Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA).

Before departure to Mazumbai students will attend several classes here in Arusha at SUA College. Professor will give them hints and teach them theoretically while in Mazumbai will be taught in practical base. All lessons is about types of forest produced, types of trees and their characters, why they choose mazumbai or Tanga and not other region to plant their trees and other so many questions to professor.

After several classes you will depart in the afternoon from Arusha to Mazumbai tropical forest for more studies and see how the forest is. There you will meet also the expertise of Mazumbai Tropical Forest. He will teach you practical via their forest established by the college. Here you should know the time of both Forestation and Deforestation. When they plant their seeds, the time taken to plant and harvesting. Condition/weather and soil needed by that trees planted.

Duration of the project/studies/research at Ndarakwai Ranch

5 Days/4night

Staying in Public Camps

End of the project in Mazumbai Tropical Forest then in the evening get back to Arusha preparing for the next session of the project/research/studies.

The 8th Session of the project/research/studies.

Arusha City – Tarangire National Park

(WILDLIFE CONSERVATION AND TOURISM)

Here students will be able to learn about Animals, Birds (over 500 bird’s types) and environmental conservation. Expertise provides extra mile knowledge about animals and birds found at Tarangire National Park also FLORA and FOUNA. Students should be able to ask many questions as they can so as to fulfill their project/studies.

Tarangire National Park Hints to learn/research

Tarangire National Park is the sixth largest national park in Tanzania, it is located in Manyara Region. The name of the park originates from the Tarangire River that crosses the park. The Tarangire River is the primary source of fresh water for wild animals in the Tarangire Ecosystem during the annual dry season. The Tarangire Ecosystem is defined by the long-distance migration of wildebeest and zebras. During the dry season thousands of animals concentrate in Tarangire National Park from the surrounding wet-season dispersal and calving areas.

It covers an area of approximately 2,850 square kilometers (1,100 square miles.) The landscape is composed of granitic ridges, river valley, and swamps. Vegetation is a mix of Acacia woodland, Commiphora-Combretum woodland, seasonally flooded grassland, and Baobab trees.

The park is famous for its high density of elephants and baobab trees. Visitors to the park in the June to November dry season can expect to see large herds of thousands of zebra, wildebeest and Cape buffalo. Other common resident animals include waterbuck, giraffe, dik-dik, impala, eland, Grant’s gazelle, velvet monkey, banded mongoose, and olive baboon. Predators in Tarangire include African lion, leopard, cheetah, caracal, honey badger, and African wild dog. The oldest known elephant to give birth to twins is found in Tarangire. A recent birth of elephant twins in the Tarangire National Park of Tanzania is a great example of how the birth of these two healthy and thriving twins can beat the odds.

Home to more than 550 bird species, the park is a haven for bird enthusiasts. The park is also famous for the termite mounds that dot the landscape. Those that have been abandoned are often home to mongoose. Current wildlife research projects in the park include the Tarangire Elephant Project, Tarangire Lion Project, and Masai Giraffe Conservation Demography Project.

Duration of the project/studies/research at Tarangire National Park.

3 Days/2night

Staying in Public Camps

End of our project/studies at Tarangire National Park, after breakfast start our safaris from Tarangire to Serengeti National Park prepare for wildlife study and Environmental conservation.

The 9th Session of the project/research/studies.

Tarangire National Park – Serengeti National Park

(WILDLIFE AND ENVIROMENTAL CONSERVATION)

Our expertise will drop down full information/knowledge about Serengeti National park and its Animals, Birds, Flora and Founa found there. Plenty of animals found there will help them to accomplish your desire and research/studies.

Serengeti National park Hints to learn/research

The Serengeti National Park is a Tanzanian national park in the Serengeti ecosystem in the Mara and Simiyu regions. It is famous for its annual migration of over 1.5 million white-bearded (or brindled) wildebeest and 250,000 zebra and for its numerous Nile crocodile and honey badger.

Also Serengeti National Park is undoubtedly the best-known wildlife sanctuary in the world, unequalled for its natural beauty and scientific value, it has the greatest concentration of plains game in Africa

Serengeti Wilder beasts Migration Map

The Serengeti National Park in Tanzania was established in 1952. It is home to the greatest wildlife spectacle on earth – the great migration of wildebeest and zebra. The resident population of lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe, and birds is also impressive. There’s a wide variety of accommodation available, from luxury lodges to mobile camps. The park covers 5,700 sq miles, (14,763 sq km), it’s larger than Connecticut, with at most a couple hundred vehicles driving around.

The Park can be divided into 3 sections. The popular southern/central part (Seronera Valley) is what the Maasai called the “serengit”, the land of endless plains. It’s classic savannah, dotted with acacias and filled with wildlife. The western corridor is marked by the Grumeti River, and has more forests and dense bush. The north, Lobo area, meets up with Kenya’s Masai Mara Reserve, is the least visited section.

Two World Heritage Sites and two Biosphere Reserves have been established within the 30,000 km² region. It’s unique ecosystem has inspired writers from Ernest Hemingway to Peter Mattheissen, filmmakers like Hugo von Lawick and Alan Root as well as numerous photographers and scientists – many of which have put their works at our disposal to create this website.

The Serengeti ecosystem is one of the oldest on earth. The essential features of climate, vegetation and fauna have barely changed in the past million years. Early man himself made an appearance in Olduvai Gorge about two million years ago. Some patterns of life, death, adaptation and migration are as old as the hills themselves.

It is the migration for which Serengeti is perhaps most famous. Over a million wildebeest and about 200,000 zebras flow south from the northern hills to the southern plains for the short rains every October and November, and then swirl west and north after the long rains in April, May and June. So strong is the ancient instinct to move that no drought, gorge or crocodile infested river can hold them back.

The Wildebeest travel through a variety of parks, reserves and protected areas and through a variety of habitat. Join us to explore the different forms of vegetation and landscapes of the Serengeti ecosystem and meet some of their most fascinating inhabitants.

Duration of the project/studies/research at Serengeti National Park.

5 Days/4night

Staying in Tented camps

End of our project/studies at Serengeti National Park, after breakfast start our safaris from Serengeti National to Ngorongoro Crater Park prepare for wildlife study and Environmental conservation.

The 10th Session of the project/research/studies.

Serengeti National Park – Ngorongoro Crater

(WILDLIFE AND ENVIROMENTAL CONSERVATION)

Before you herd to Ngorongoro Crater you will pass to OLDUVA GORGE first for few minutes/hour, here you will learn some historical things especial in furthering our understanding of early evolution. You will meet the expertise who will provide you deeply information about the place and its historical.

Olduvai National Park Hints to learn/research

The Olduvai Gorge or Oldupai Gorge in Tanzania is one of the most important pale anthropological sites in the world; it has proven invaluable in furthering our understanding of early human evolution. A steep-sided ravine in the Great Rift Valley that stretches across East Africa, it is about 48 km (30 mi) long, and is located in the eastern Serengeti Plains in the Arusha Region not far, about 45 kilometers (28 miles), from Laetoli, another important archaeological site of early human occupation. The British/Kenyan paleoanthropologist-archeologist team Mary and Louis Leakey established and developed the excavation and research programs at Olduvai Gorge which achieved great advances of human knowledge and world-renowned status.

Homo habilis, probably the first early human species, occupied Olduvai Gorge approximately 1.9 million years ago (mya); then came a contemporary australopithecine, Paranthropus boisei, 1.8 mya, then Homo erectus, 1.2 mya. Our species Homo sapiens, which is estimated to have emerged roughly 300,000 years ago, is dated to have occupied the site 17,000 years ago.

The site is significant in showing the increasing developmental and social complexities in the earliest humans, or hominins, largely revealed in the production and use of stone tools. And prior to tools, the evidence of scavenging and hunting highlighted by the presence of gnaw marks that predate cut marks and of the ratio of meat versus plant material in the early hominin diet. The collecting of tools and animal remains in a central area is evidence of developing social interaction and communal activity. All these factors indicate increase in cognitive capacities at the beginning of the period of hominids transitioning to hominin that is, to human form and behavior.

Then continue with our Safari to Ngorongoro Crater

Ngorongoro Conservation Area/Ngorongoro Crater.

Here Students they are going to finalize their project/studies they will enjoy a lot of being studies/researching/exploring almost all numbers of BIG FIVE (Lion, Elephant, Rhino, Buffalo and Leopard) animals here. Explore and Discover the Nature of Ngorongoro Crater.

Ngorongoro Conservation Area Hints to learn/research

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) is a protected area and a World Heritage Site located 180 km (110 mi) west of Arusha in the Crater Highlands area of Tanzania. The area is named after Ngorongoro Crater, a large volcanic caldera within the area. The conservation area is administered by the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority, an arm of the Tanzanian government, and its boundaries follow the boundary of the Ngorongoro Division of the Arusha Region.

The 2009 Ngorogoro Wildlife Conservation Act placed new restrictions on human settlement and subsistence farming in the Crater, displacing Maasai pastoralists, most of whom had been relocated to Ngorongoro from their ancestral lands to the north when the British colonial government established Serengeti National Park in 1959. The construction of luxury tourist hotels in the Conservation Area allows people to access “the unparalleled beauty of one of the world’s most unchanged wildlife sanctuaries”, according to a government brochure, even as thousands of Maasai have suffered forcible eviction and have been denied access to water sources for their livestock.

Duration of the project/studies/research at Ngorongoro Crater.

3 Days/2night

Staying in Public Camps

End of the project in Ngorongoro Crater then in the evening get back to Arusha preparing for the PART and say goodbye to their leaders/expertise.

You’re Luck (THE LAST SESSION)

Mupana Organization arranges Students PART as a big part for everyone to say goodbye to our students who made their project/studies/research with us. Student’s leader can say something to our team before saying goodbye.

TANZANIA

WILDLIFE CONSERVATION AND POLITICAL ECOLOGY TABLE SUMMARY.

SESSION NUMBER

PLACE TO VISIT

ATIVITIES (PROJET/RESEARCH/STUDIES)

NUMBER OF DAYS TO CONDUCT PROJET/RESEARCH

1ST Session

Ndarakwai Ranch

Wildlife Conservation and Tourism

6Days/5Night

Stay in Tented Camp

2nd Session

Arusha Project Center

Intensive Language Learning

14Days/13Night

Home stay with local families

3rd Session

Arusha-Lake Eyas

Wildlife conservation and Cultural Tourism

5Days/4Night

Stay in Tented Camp

4th Session

Arusha-Moshi/Kilimanjaro

Agriculture and Community

5Days/4Night

Stay in Tented Camp

5th Session

Arusha-Lake Manyara

Wildlife Conservation and Tourism

4Days/3Night

Stay in Tented Camp

6th Session

Arusha-Oldonyosambu

Cultural Tourism

4Days/3Night

Stay in Tented Camp

7th Session

Arusha-Mazumbai Tropical Forest

Environmental Conservation and Tourism

5Days/4Night

Stay in Tented Camp

8th Session

Arusha-Tarangire National Park

Wildlife conservation and Tourism

3Days/2Night

Stay in Tented Camp

9th Session

Tarangire National Park-Serengeti National Park

Wildlife conservation and Tourism

5Days/4Night

Stay in Tented Camp

10th Session

Serengeti National Park-Ngorongoro Crater

Wildlife conservation and Cultural Tourism

3Days/2Night

Stay in Tented Camp

11th Session

Arusha Project Center

Meet Tour Operators and Guides ask them some Questions

2Day

Stay in Hotel

12th Session

Arusha Project Center

Students Part (Say goodbye before living Tanzania)

1Day

Stay in Hotel

You will have 12th Session to accomplish your project/research/studies here in Tanzania conducted 60 Days (2 Months).

Let us give you the opportunity of traveling with us to discover the natural tempo of this land, cultural, historical things, wildlife and its people. Always we prefer to treat our customers as a VIP’s, so every customer who booked with us he/she is VIP’s to us.